Tiger Guards

Chapter 227 Eliminating hidden dangers
"At the moment, my only concern is the Six County Commandant's troops."

In Jinyang, Zhao Ji held a stack of military cards and stared at the map spread out in front of him.

Only Pei Xiu, Jia Tong, Ximen Jian, Tang Xian, Han Shu and others were around him. Zhao Ji placed the stack of wooden carved military plaques on Shangdang and said, "If we take them to Shangdang and fail in battle, it will bring disaster to the entire army."

Driving the conscripted soldiers from the six counties to fight a war of attrition... This idea is very beautiful, and many people do this.

But if the emperor leads the army in person, and the soldiers from the six counties plot to kidnap the emperor and start a rebellion, it will be completely impossible to deal with.

Besides, in a war of attrition, Zhao Ji could tolerate casualties among the Tiger Infantry and Volunteer Soldiers, but how could there not be casualties in fighting and looting food?

Zhao Ji picked up the stack of military cards and placed them in Qi County. "Give them to Mr. Wenhe, who will be responsible for transporting and escorting military rations. With Mr. Wenhe's skills, he can keep a close eye on these people. This time, we will fight on our own, without the help of these people. Let them follow and see how we fight. Once they are convinced, we will recruit them as vanguards in the next battle."

Pei Xiu looked at the map in silence. When Zhao Ji led the Yicong troops south to welcome the emperor's carriage and march towards Shangdang, Pei Xiu was the one who stayed behind in Jinyang.

If these six county soldiers stayed in Jinyang to continue training, it would be like laying a mine for Pei Xiu.

The old city of Jinyang has been almost completely transformed into a huge warehouse. Whoever seizes the food here can immediately control the laborers and slaves in Jinyang.

After the autumn grain is harvested, it will be transported to Jinyang in batches. The grain storage plan to be completed before October is 5 million shi.

The training ration for a heavy infantryman was three dan per month, and five million dan of grain was enough to feed 20,000 defenders for eighty months.

Taking into account the various populations in the new city, the grain consumption of Jinyang City should be between 350,000 and 400,000 dan per month after winter.

By protecting these five million dan of grain, Jinyang can easily suppress any rebellion even if it occurs near or far, and it will not affect next year's spring plowing and production.

Jia Tong frowned: "We can't just recruit them and let them eat our food for free."

"Just let them eat it. They'll spit it out sooner or later."

Zhao Ji looked at Jia Tong and said, "Initially, I summoned them in the name of the imperial court. I wasn't coveting their limited combat power, but simply wanted to gather troops by my side to prevent the other counties from rebelling behind my back when I went to attack Shangdang. Now that they have been ordered to send troops, our county is empty and unable to cause any rebellion."

Looking at the others, Zhao Ji emphasized, "Using a little food to prevent them from causing trouble is a good idea. When the war is over and the counties are repatriated, we can leave behind some of their loyalists. We can train them, and they will naturally help us control the counties in the future."

Daijun, Yanmen, Xihe, Shangjun, Beidi, and Dingxiangjun all sent troops. The largest troop was from Yanmen, with 1,200 people, the smallest was from Dingxiang, with 300 people, and the third was from Beidi, with more than 400 people.

The total strength of the soldiers from these six counties was close to 4,000, half of them infantry and half cavalry. They were combined into one unit by Zhao Ji and handed over to Guanqiu Yi for command.

In order to decentralize power, the Infantry Sima and the Cavalry Sima were set up under Guanqiu Yi to be in charge of infantry and cavalry training respectively; Pei Xiu was responsible for daily food supply, equipment replacement, troop adjustments, etc.

We did not expect these people to play any important role, so we disbanded them and reorganized them.

The process of dispersing them was naturally not very harmonious, but the army stationed in Jinyang was able to suppress many inappropriate small emotions.

After the reorganization, the Huben were still used as supervisors and team officers of a hundred people, so now there are only more than a hundred Huben left by Zhao Ji's side.

The army cannot be expanded any further. These Tiger Guards are substitute military officers in the reserve force.

There are eight hundred Tiger Guards. Three Tiger Guards can form a team of one hundred men, and three hundred Tiger Guards can form a team of ten thousand men. Currently, the Tiger Infantry Army is maintained at eighteen thousand men, and the other four thousand are the soldiers of the six counties.

Guanqiu Yi took away the management power of military discipline of the six counties. He could punish the officers and soldiers, but he did not have the power to promote or reward them.

If the soldiers from the six counties were transferred to serve under Jia Xu, the logistical manpower required to be mobilized in Taiyuan could be reduced.

If more people are kept away from war, they will naturally be able to invest in material production.

Even if you are idle and have nothing to do while having children with your wife, you are making a contribution to the nation.

In Zhao Ji's opinion, it was a good deal to consume grain and hire soldiers from the six counties to do some work of guarding the grain route.

Jia Tong and his friends felt that they had suffered a loss, as they had all experienced hunger.

In their simple sense of right and wrong, since they provided the food, the soldiers from the six counties should go to the battlefield and fight after eating the food.

For a force of 4,000 soldiers from the six counties, at least 300 to 500 lives must be lost to justify the food expenditure.

But Zhao Ji had reiterated it again and again, so everyone had no choice but to accept it.

Seeing no objections, Zhao Ji continued, "Five thousand Tiger Infantry will remain in Jinyang, three thousand of whom are knights I selected. Wen Li will be responsible for training this knight force. After this battle, we will establish a new Eagle Knight force in addition to the Hedong Knights."

The Yulin unit will be returned to the emperor, and the army established by this unit will also compete with the Huben unit for power and treatment.

The Yu Lin Lang of Xihe Commandery was also transferred to the Huben system. Zhao Ji couldn't give up his position as the Huben Lieutenant General anyway. Holding on to this position, the army he supervised would be part of the Imperial Guards. Even the newly established Yingyang Cavalry, which was derived from the Hubu Army, and the military officers of the Yingyang Cavalry were also transferred from the Huben Lang, which freed up the Huben organization.

Zhao Ji looked around as he spoke. Jia Tong lowered his head and didn't dare to look at Zhao Ji. He didn't want to stay and help Pei Xiu train the troops.

During this period, he had been staying in the Zhongdu camp to guard the emperor. The entire collective was expanding and developing too fast. If he left Zhao Ji for even half a month, he would be unable to keep up with the progress when he came back.

But Zhao Ji was also aware of making compensation. For example, Wei Xing did not participate in the war against the Baibo generals and stayed in the Hou family manor.

In the Battle of Jinyang, Wei Xing and Han Dong each led a team to participate in the battle. Thanks to their merits in that battle, Wei Xing's shoulder badge was increased to two bars and three stars.

During this campaign against the treacherous ministers of Shangdang, Wei Xing led 3,000 infantry and cavalry as the vanguard to transport grain to Nie County and build a grain storage base on the front line.

Jia Tong felt that he had paid the price and should not continue to stay in the rear to work.

The same was true for Tang Xian. As Jia Tong's deputy, he guarded the Zhongdu camp. One was responsible for monitoring the emperor, and the other was responsible for monitoring the officials.

Each of them was responsible for a part and reported to Zhao Ji respectively, successfully keeping a close eye on the imperial court.

Seeing this, Han Shu wanted to take the initiative to ask to take charge of this knight group, but he wanted to follow Zhao Ji and fight on the front line even more.

While he was hesitating, Zhao Ji's eyes swept across Han Shu's face.

One must always keep some reliable leaders around. Zhao Ji's eyes fell on Ximen Jian's face. While he was thinking, Ximen Jian took the initiative to bow and said, "Minister, I will stay to assist Wen Li."

"No, you are careful in your work, so come with me on the expedition."

Zhao Ji's eyes moved to Chang Mao's face. Just as Chang Mao was about to bow, Zhao Ji said, "Amao, come with me too. You and Yuanjie complement each other very well. It would be bad if one of you were missing."

Chang Mao and Ximen Jian beside him looked at each other and stopped asking for orders.

Zhao Ji thought for a moment, then turned to Pei Xiu and said, "Let Adong help you monitor the knights' training."

Anyway, all the officials have moved south, and he will lead the emperor to war, so no one can be held accountable for the trouble Han Dong caused.

The military training is relatively closed, and who among those who stay in Jinyang cares about the Queen's affairs?
Pei Xiulu smiled, thought about it, and then asked, "Okay, what about Ah Xing?"

This Ah Xing can only be Guanqiu Xing.

"Grandfather is short of people. I will recommend Ah Xing to be the magistrate of Anyi. This position is very good for training people. I think Ah Xing is qualified for it."

Zhao Ji looked around at everyone and said, "This battle is to demonstrate the power of our army. It's meant to exalt our strength, not to kill! When you return to lead the troops, you must enforce strict discipline. I don't expect you to freeze to death without demolishing the houses, but at least you must have the demeanor of a king's army!"

"Here!"

Everyone bowed and followed Zhao Ji to look at the map. Only 5,000 Hubu soldiers were left in Jinyang, and 3,000 county soldiers and 4,600 county soldiers were assigned to Jia Xu in Qi County.

Those who have joined the battle so far include Xu Huang's 2,000 Hedong knights, 3,000 northern county soldiers (garrison troops from the four counties outside the Great Wall), 3,000 tiger infantry led by Liang Xing, and 3,000 tiger infantry led by Wei Xing.

Among the 18,000 Tiger Guards, there were 3,000 Tiger Infantrymen stationed in various places in Hedong for garrison.

Therefore, all that was left for Zhao Ji were 5,000 tiger infantry and 5,000 Xiongnu volunteers.

As August approached, the Huns had already begun preparing for migration to pastures. After the migration was completed, they would be able to recruit a large number of Hun volunteers.

But there is no need, the fundamental goal of this battle is not to fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao lacked cavalry and had short legs. Only by keeping Yuan Shao could Gongsun Zan's expansion be curbed.

The veterans of the Bingzhou border army gradually gathered under Zhao Ji's command, and there was no shortage of professional instructors.

As Bingzhou is home to the world's elite troops, in the long run, its only competitor is the Youzhou Border Army Group!
Whether it is the Han nobles in Youzhou or the Wuhuan nobles, they are essentially part of the Youzhou border army.

Zhao Ji was not afraid of the infantry groups of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, but he was afraid of the cavalry groups of Gongsun Zan.

Cavalry is best at achieving inexplicable results, and Zhao Ji doesn't like others forcing such surprises on him.

He likes to surprise others.

(End of this chapter)